Tonight marks the debut of "Crossfire Hurricane" (HBO, 9 p.m.), a documentary about the first two decades of the Rolling Stones.
It coincides with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the band, and is one of two documentaries just released about the Stones. (The other is "Charlie Is My Darling," which came out on Blu-Ray/DVD last week).
The Stones have always billed themselves as "the greatest rock & roll band in the world," but to me, they've always been my least favorite band from the British Invasion.
When people ask "Stones or Beatles," I always answer the latter. To me, it's obvious -- The Beatles could have existed without the Stones, because they were always re-inventing themselves. However, how might the Stones have fared without The Beatles?
The Stones' first hit was a Beatles song, "I Wanna Be Your Man." The British Invasion needed the clean-cut image of The Beatles to spread beyond England's shores; had the Stones been first with their darker, bad-boy image, I don't think the British Invasion would have had the same impact.
And a lot of the stuff the Stones did, "Let It Bleed," and such, was in reaction to something The Beatles did.
That's not to detract from the greatness of the Stones. Certainly, they've produced a lot of great stuff over the decades.
If we're talking about the best anti-establishment band of the British Invasion, I'll stick with The Who.
THURSDAY'S BEST BETS: Enjoy the new episodes airing this week, since much of next week will be reruns, thanks to Thanksgiving.
I really enjoyed the return of "Burn Notice" (USA, 10 p.m.) last week, though it has made for an even busier Thursday TV-wise. Also on cable at that time is "It's Always Sunny" and "The League" from 10-11 p.m. on FX.
On the networks, CBS is all-new with "Big Bang Theory," "Two and a Half Men," "Person of Interest" and "Elementary."
ABC has "Last Resort," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" from 8-11 p.m., while NBC airs its sitcoms and "Rock Center."
On "Glee," (Fox, 9 p.m.), the kids perform "Grease" following a new "X-Factor," while The CW airs "Vampire Diaries" and "Beauty and the Beast."
